Light 'Em Up
by CharlieMichelle
Summary: Maki somehow always gets confronted about her eccentric lieutenant... it helps to know someone for so long. Dialogue prompt.


**A/N: Well here we are... honestly, anyone that didn't see me committing to fanfics for Fire Force must not really know me! Just a cute little oneshot here for you lovely people. Inspired by the dialogue prompt; "He's very loyal, and sweet, but very dumb." So let me know how you like it! As far as plot goes, just two different moments I could imagine Maki having the conversation she'd have about Hinawa!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Force or any of its characters/plot lines.**

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"So... fire witch, tell me... your lieutenant, is he always this..." she watched as the Captain of the 7th struggled to form his thoughts and she had to fight the immediate reaction to immediately defend her commanding officer in the space of his drawn-out silence, "...dramatic?"

She felt as if she had this conversation before she knew she had this conversation before. She's had this conversation with almost every member of Special Fire Force Company 8 at one point or another, she's had it with all potential girlfriends (emphasis on potential) and even with some of her floormates when she was in the Tokyo Army. She hadn't been aware that she could decipher the hidden messages her superior officer would drop in his everyday talk –if someone could call it that. Takehisa Hinawa didn't believe in everyday talk, he was a little eccentric like that. He was a little extreme, sometimes he could be scary, but deep down (and Maki meant deep, deep down) he was doing his best! She always wondered if childhood trauma had left him with this inability to create personal connections. Was he always this weird? Did he grow up with this, this ...intensity? Could it be who he was?

"Huh? You think Lieutenant Hinawa is dramatic?"

"Well, he certainly isn't relaxed." Benimaru sipped his tea after his observation was verbalized. Maki felt three other sets of eyes on her as she set her bowl of rice down. "I've heard that he comes from the Tokyo Army, a true dog of the government through and through then."

"He left the Tokyo Army to fight a battle he believes in," Maki ignored the heat that flushed through her, she always had a problem controlling her short-temper but it was especially true when Takehisa was involved, "... why ask me anyway?"

"Because, Fire Witch... the lieutenant has the communication skills of a lunatic, yet with one look you can understand and execute an order, answer a question or order his meal."

"I'm not a fire witch..." Maki grumbled through a glare, "Lieutenant Hinawa and I go way back, he was commanding officer in the Tokyo Army before he recruited me to the 8th."

Benimaru snickered into his tea, he wasn't particularly interested in the details of the witch and lunatics relationship. His concern was with the beady brown eyes behind the glasses, the screamed anxiety and unease and that didn't settle right with Benimaru. The jumpiness of the 8th lieutenant put him on edge and he just needed to ensure that Takehisa Hinawa wouldn't be a concern to his people. He began to eat again, the meal was good, but the rice was just a smidge to sticky for him to truly enjoy. His friend at the noodle shop had not disappointed with this meal.

"Hinawa-san is a fantastic leader. He takes great pride in what he does and in his team! He's a little extreme, sure, but he wants to rid this world of Infernals and the people that are intentionally setting them."

Konro chuckled lightly from his seat, "Well, of course, Shinra, that wasn't Beni's question. Beni wasn't asking to cause insult, we're all just curious about your team dynamic."

"You mean you need to make sure that none of us are going to cause an issue with your people," Maki replied in a cool tone, one that Shinra wasn't used to or had heard from her before. "I get that, Hinawa-san could be considered a loose cannon of sorts. His temper is horrible, he probably takes his job a little too seriously, but I can assure you both that he has always been this way and there will be nothing to worry about."

"Good, I'll hold you to that Fire Witch."

"I'm not a witch." Maki grumbled under her breath once more before she had excused herself from the table. She grabbed the remaining to-go containers that were left unopened, she supposed now would be as good a time as any to make her deranged lieutenant eat some dinner. The soft voices of the three men she left behind followed her out as she made her way to the room Takehisa and Obi-san had been sharing. She knocked three times, hard sturdy knocks in comparison to her soft little hands, and upon hearing the acceptance of her visit she slid the door open and stepped in.

"You didn't have to bring me dinner."

"If I didn't would you have eaten?"

Takehisa glared, "Of course I'd have eaten, to go without nourishment while we're here investigating our lead would be a poor decision. Even you know that."

"Just take the nice gesture and say thank you!" Maki groaned out as she collapsed on to one of the piles of soft pillows. "You always have to make things so difficult."

"Correction, you make things difficult. A prime example would be by making your way to these quarters with my food and expecting an unnecessary gesture of gratitude for a kind deed done." He opened a container and began to eat, Maki watched through twitching eyelids as she daydreamed of shoving chopsticks up his nose. "This is good."

"So glad you approve sir..."

They sat in silence, it wasn't uncomfortable, most of their interaction was done in silence. It had always been that way between the two of them, not that there was anything between the two of them. Maki let out a sigh, that would be weird, she thought to herself. Takehisa had been such a strong presence in her life that she couldn't imagine him in any other role! Plus, would she want anything other than their companioned silence? He was obsessive-compulsive, he hated Sputter and Flare, he didn't take her seriously at all and he knew her family. Worse, half of her family hated him.

"You've sighed three times in the last five minutes."

"Your observation skills are on point as always."

"Nastiness is not necessary, just tell me what happened."

Maki sat up; "What makes you think anything happened? Maybe I'm sighing because I'm missing family dinner tonight."

"You're not, family dinner is always the last weekend of the month."

"Ya' know, it's a little weird that you know that." Maki crossed her legs and watched as Takehisa cleaned up after his meal. "Why do you know that?"

"Your brother likes to remind me."

Maki blinked in surprise, "Takigi? He willingly reaches out to you to remind you of our family dinners?"

Takehisa took his seat in front of his laptop once more and began to read through the report he had left off at, "No."

"Does Takigi still hate you?"

"Yes."

Maki laughed lightly, "Captain Shinmon asked about you." She waited for him to resume his typing before she continued, but she knew she had his full attention. "He wanted to make sure you weren't going to cause any issues."

Takehisa grunted, but Maki understood if Benimaru continued to disrespect their captain he would have the issue he was dreading. The pair returned to silence; Maki stretched out on her back on the ground while Takehisa continued to go through reports over the years. She hadn't even finished her contemplation on bringing Sputter out when she heard her companion tell her to stop thinking about it. She told him he was mean. He began to type harder. She laughed. Somehow during all of it, she felt her eyelids get heavy and let out a yawn. She swore she heard Takehisa insult her, but she let it go. Maki fell asleep to the soft tapping of the laptop keys.

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When Vulcan joined their motley crew of individuals it felt like their team had finally come together as a whole. Takehisa even cooked one of his elaborate dinners to welcome their new ginger friend –stupid showoff, and the flow of things at the 8 House just felt better. The atmosphere kept changing with each new clue and tip to follow in the investigation and everyone knew it, nobody tried to hide it either. It was one of the benefits of being in such an intense line of work, comrades fed off each other's energies and everyone was humming. Maki had found herself figuratively and literally humming different tunes all-around 8 House.

"Ya know, you and the creepy guy in the glasses hum the same song a lot."

Maki hadn't even realized she was at it again; "That's weird, we don't even like the same types of music."

Vulcan shrugged, "Just an observation is all. Can I ask you something about four eyes?"

"His name is-"

"Takehisa Hinawa, yeah I know." Vulcan interrupted Maki before she could finish her statement and she felt the grip of the broom tighten dangerously. "What's his deal? I mean, I get that he cares about you guys, but does he have to be such a dick about your fireball stuff?"

"Uh... you mean Sputter and Flare?"

"Yeah, I think it's pretty cool that you can do that."

Maki went back to sweeping as she contemplated how to respond. "It's not my place to say, Hinawa-san is a very private person and his reasonings are his own."

Vulcan went back to tinkering on his latest creation, specifically designed for the man of discussion! If he chose to accept it, Vulcan thought with the slightest twinge of disdain. "I guess I just don't see the point in smothering out other people's talents just because he's afraid."

"You think he's afraid of Sputter and Flare? That's ridiculous!" Maki laughed as she made her way down the length of their engine bay.

"Nah, he's scared." Maki laughed harder. "I'm being serious! It's almost like he's afraid that the fire you create will turn against you or something. The guy is hard to read but he's pretty damn obvious when it comes to you."

"It's just because we've known each other for a long time. You're reading into this."

"And you're definitely in denial," Vulcan opened the can of pop that had been placed beside him by Iris hours beforehand, "you two operate on the same wavelength it's almost freaky."

Maki had just finished putting the broom back into the cleaning cabinet and had made her way to the empty seat across from the young inventor. She felt uneasy, sure she's had similar conversations about the eccentric lieutenant! She's usually the one left with the duty to breakdown his crude and abrupt mannerisms to all new people. She had never been propositioned with something so heavy before, to imply that Takehisa has feelings that are not strictly professional and platonic always through Maki through a loop. Sure, at her young age she had thought about it more than once and she couldn't deny that she was closer with him than anyone else within House 8. However, it was Takehisa she was referring to, and he had been her commanding officer in the Tokyo Army... they just knew each other differently. Yeah, that was it...

"I've known Hinawa-san a long time, a lot longer than he's known me. My father is General Oze oversaw everything that Lieutenant Hinawa did as a Sergeant in the military, including when he was my company officer. He's intense and sometimes a little hard to handle, but he's passionate about this mission! He can't help that following every rule the 'T' is engrained into his every breath... it's just who he is, ya' know?"

"So that explains it, you two have a history..." some clanking from his latest machine and then some silence before he finished his thought, "for what it's worth, I think he's alright if he's willing to make sure you get placed where he can keep an eye out for you. Shows you that he cares."

"Yeah..." Maki sighed wistfully; she had caught movement as the door opened. Takehisa had popped out to let them know that dinner would be served shortly. She smiled brightly when they made eye contact like she does all the time and he raised an eyebrow and shook his head softly, just like always. "he's very loyal and he can be sweet too."

Vulcan snorted; "And dumb... c'mon I'm starving."

Laughter bubbled out of her as they made their way into the mess hall. Yes, Takehisa Hinawa could be all those things; eccentric, compulsive, neurotic, angry even... but he always had the best interests of his teammates at heart. And even though Maki Oze wasn't the only person in 8 House that truly understood Takehisa Hinawa, she was the best. Though nobody ever asked him how he felt on it.

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**A/N: So? How'd you like it? Let me know!**


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